David: Maeda's Response - Laws 1 & 2

Maeda's outlook into the idea of taking away, hiding while still conceiving a sense of inherent value is something I have always been interested about. Perhaps because it is a subconscious effort for most designers. "Less is more, less is more." However, I never really thought how the end user is perceiving it. Maeda's just put these things I took for granted into context. My favorite part is the silver backing on the iPod meant to help the device blend with the environment while the remaining face gives you the allusion of a smaller object. I remember when I picked one up, it was much heavier than I expected the little white thing to be and did more than I could ask for. A humbling experience indeed. An example of Apple's clever ways of hiding things is the browser rotational feature on the iPhone. The ability to go portrait to landscape is hidden in the users hands. The unexpected is what makes a product memorable. Alongside audio products, another gadget I recently came across is the Tykho radio, designed by Marc Berthier back in 1997 for French brand Lexon, and the colorful silicone-covered audio box is still popular. It works in different environments ( http://www.dwell.com/products/tykho-radio.html ) and has a few intuitive buttons that make it different from the others. Or the red IKEA clock. The only thing you can see is the time and buzzer button. In all, careful reduction makes a product meaningful.

Maeda's second law of organization is compelling. It is funny because when I first read "organize" in the title of the section, i thought of the Container Store, which is also mentioned in the text. Making life "look" less complicated motivates me to carry on with a project that may otherwise seem overwhelmingly big. The SLIP concept, the visual design and the gestalt that results from it is effective. The arts and the sciences working simultaneously. Nevertheless, everything comes at a price. When the iPod came out and later on there were speculations about an Apple phone following it, my initial thoughts were on its future design, but specifically its "buttons." It makes sense to have two in one, but I wonder if the price they pay is from customers like people with visual handicaps. How would they use the iPhone? Maybe I it's time for me to squint my own eyes and see the bigger picture.